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He has always been a part-timer, a nickel linebacker, only playing on passing downs, never playing in the entire game.

But this is the year that everything changes for Jacquian Williams. This is the year, according to the speedy Giants linebacker, that he finally delivers on all the promise he showed as a rookie during the Super Bowl run of the 2011 season.

“The goal is to an every-down linebacker,” Williams says. “I belong here. I worked for it, and it’s my time.”

The Giants certainly are hoping so. On Saturday night at MetLife Stadium, Williams will make his second preseason start against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the latest step in securing a starting job. It’s something the Giants want him to win; now in his fourth year, Williams brings sideline-to-sideline athleticism to the position. He’s the final piece of a revamped linebacking corps, a group that could make or break the entire defense.

The routine that Giants quarterback Eli Manning had become accustomed to for the past 10 years has changed. There is a new face running the team's offense with coordinator Ben McAdoo in charge.

The hope is that the results differ from last year as well. Manning threw a career-high 27 interceptions in 2013. The Giants finished 28th in total offense. It was a disaster of a season that ended with Manning's ankle mangled from a hit taken in the season finale against the Redskins.

After Sunday's preseason opener against the Bills, Manning mentioned he noticed one major difference in the lead-up to games.

"[The quarterbacks] sat down with him on Saturday morning and he kind of picked each of our minds on what plays we liked, what we were thinking, and what plays were maybe a little lower on the list," Manning told NJ.com. "He asked our thoughts and gave some of his thoughts on the game plan and what we were going to try and do. I think that was good. … We had never done that before."

He broke his leg in the final game of the 2013 season and had surgery to repair it, so it would be nice if he could take all the time he needed in training camp to rehab the injury and allow it to heal. But New York Giants left tackle Will Beatty doesn't feel as though he has that luxury.

"You can't forget about everything else," Beatty said Thursday. "You can't be like, 'Okay, I'm going to go out here and rehab,' and not tune into what the coaches are saying about the plays and the footwork and the protections. I have to make sure I don't have rehab as a crutch. Because when it comes time to full-go, you have to be ready. So I'm trying to get everything down now so when it is full-go, it's not, 'I need to practice this, I need to practice that.' I'm building everything at once."

Beatty's leg has allowed him to do more so far in training camp than the Giants expected him to do. He won't play in Saturday night's preseason game against the Steelers, but coach Tom Coughlin said that was the plan all along. If things continue to go well, the Giants hope to play Beatty in next weekend's preseason game in Indianapolis and have him ready in plenty of time for the regular-season opener Sept. 8 in Detroit.

The LB unit is in a bit of a weird place right now. As I understand the Game 1 starting trio it is Beason at MIKE, McClain at SAM, Williams at WIL Right now, however, Beason is out indefinitely; McClain is the starting MIKE (did he play against Bufflao or is he still hurt?); and Williams is starting at SAM. Not sure how much this matters but it is a bit upside down and inside out right now

GOAT56 says: August 8, 2014 at 7:32 PM There are 3 more under the radar players I think should be mentioned:

1) Preston Parker #83. He also looked like a capable WR. Not the big gut the roster could use, more like a Jerigan. But what really turned my attention is that he received so many PR reps. I don’t think you give a nobody PR reps. I think it means he’s a under the radar roster contender.

2) Kerry Wynn #69. He was a terror in the second half. And it wasn’t just against future security guards he badly beat the bills second round pick Kouandjio from Bama several times. He missed handled a fumble recovery for a TD which is why he’s not more known. But given we have some pas rush concerns a kid like him can sneak on the roster. He really has some Ojomo qualities as he was used as DT in college his last year.

3) Atkins #49. I don’t know much about him but he was all over the place in the second half. Then Fewell mentioned him by name as a young LB that had impressed. He’s not a young guy but a 4 year vet. Maybe he can emerge out of nowhere to claim a roster spot kind of like McBride did last year.

Also I will be looking a our young safeties. Taylor because we might need him to play a big role this year and he needs to keeping round out his game. He’s athletic and intelligence but it seems he’s still trying to get his attacking skill down. Behre I’m watching because he does need to keep flashing that “missile” ability to force himself on this roster. DB is incredibly competitive. Merit said it’s the best group he’s had.

skinnydoogan says: August 8, 2014 at 7:49 PM GOAT, I just went and googled if all the planets were lined up perfectly, you and I agreed on something. Going to buy a lottery ticket right now……

GOAT I commented last thread on this post You and I are both on the Kerry Wynn bandwagon and we’ve both commented throughout the week on Parker What I noted last thread is that I wouldn’t be surprised if we see someone completely different at PR this week given where PP is on the WR depth chart

Jim – we definitely agree on Wynn. With Ayers being injured he should be able to get second team reps as well.

I don’t think we can afford to keep 7 WRs because of the depth at other positions like DB. But we have before so I can’t say it’s completely crazy. Especially if guys like Washington and Parker are going to be key special teamers.

I’m also excited to see Bromley again. We haven’t heard anything about him in camp so it was great to see him dominate. It was against backups but you could see how athletic he is for a DT.

We need to watch how Cox and Williams pass block. Williams looks great as a runner but his snaps won’t be what they should be if he can’t pass block. Given his size pass blocking is just about understanding who to block and he should be fine.

Also McManus continues his battle to knock off Brown. Watching the Rams last night you see a different level of confidence when a 55 yard FG is well within range. But he probably needs a perfect preseason to beat out Brown.

If someone else is going to make a surprise run at a roster spot then they better start tonight. There’s definitely a spot for one of the no name OL to push on to the roster.

Yeah Bromley looked good in limited snaps last week. Really pumped about him as well, as I’ve said since he was drafted that this guy is a better version of Barry Cofield and a PERFECT player to play opposite Hankins.

Been a few days since I’ve been on G101, during which time I’ve attended 2 pregnancy classes and had my first day back in my own classroom, setting up and preparing for the new year (and new subject–Civics & Economics).

I’ll be missing the game tonight, as it’s not playing live on any channel down here. I’ll catch the replay tomorrow afternoon on NFL Network, and will chime in on my thoughts on the game at that point.

But here’s what I’m looking to see:

1) The OL take a step forward. Yes, I know that Charles Brown is still going to be playing at LT, and it now appears that Richburg will get the start at LG while Schwartz’ knee mends. But I want to see this OL improve its execution, particularly in the running game. Pass pro is something that takes a little bit of time whenever a new offense is installed; however, run-blocking hasn’t changed much in the last 60+ years, and this group would do well to hone in on that part of their game.

2) What will the TEs do to make us not feel nauseated? It appears that Donnell is going to be TE1, based on all these reports of him in practice. Can GOAT’s boy Robinson do anything to tonight to prove he’s worth a roster spot? Blocking, catching the ball, lining up in the correct spot without the assistance of Eli….something!

4) I’d love to see Cruz and Randle get a few catches each. I believe both were blanked last weekend, while Jernigan only snagged 1 or 2 balls. Let’s see our boys get some reps! And let’s see Harris and Washington get some time with the 1s.

5) Finally, I want to see JPP show some speed! The bar for him is lowering each day, and I just want to see him use that explosiveness he once had coming off the edge, regardless if it yields any sacks. We need JPP to be JPP if this DL is going to work in 2014, and last week he looked barely adequate out there. He needs to show up tonight, and stop threatening to fight ESPN beat writers!

As for Jacquian, we’d all love it if he could be relied upon to be an every-down linebacker. He certainly looks bigger this year than he has in previous years. I’ve always felt that he could be a very very good player if he bulked up enough to be a factor against the run without losing any of the speed he uses in his usual roll of nickel linebacker.